This salad is a riff on a Salade Niçoise, with a Spanish bent.
INGREDIENTS:
6 cups (1 medium head) lettuce such as red leaf, washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized bits 3 cups cauliflower florets cut into bite-sized pieces 10-12 Romano beans, cut diagonally into ¼ inch wide by 1 inch long pieces 2-4 potatoes (2 cups once sliced) such as Desiree, Bintji, Yukon Gold, etc. 2-4 medium tomatoes, 2-3 cups total (use various colored heirloom type if available), sliced ¼ inch or cut into ½ inch bits, extra liquid and seeds drained, enough 4-6 scallions, whites sliced thinly on a long diagonal, greens really thinly sliced on a short diagonal, kept separate 1½ cups olives such as oil-cured or Niçoise 1 cup roasted almonds, or fried Marcona* almonds 2 cans (around 5 ounces each) oil packed tuna**, drained 1 jar roasted, peeled piquillo pepper or red bell peppers***, drained and cut into ¼ inch strips (or roast your own peppers, around 2-3 medium Corno de Toros or red bells) 1 cup Creamy Smoky Vinaigrette (see recipe), or as needed Salt and pepper to tasteMETHOD:
Put the potatoes into a large pot and fill it with water. Salt liberally and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes until tender-when they can be just pierced with a thin knife tip or toothpick. Remove from the water, and when cool enough to handle without hurting yourself, peel if you like, and slice into ¼ inch thick slices. This is a good time to use your granton edge knives (the ones with the dimples in the sides of the blades), or if the potatoes keep sticking, lightly oil the sides of the blade.
Once the potatoes are cooked, allow to cool. While cooling, prepare an ice bath large enough to hold the beans/cauliflower. Use water, ice, and salt to bring the temperature down further.
When the ice bath is ready, submerge the beans in a strainer or colander long enough for them to become tender and bright green. They should be just tender, with a little snap to them still. Lift from the boiling water and plunge into the ice bath to arrest the cooking. Lift from the ice bath and drain on a towel.
Refresh the ice bath with more ice if needed, then submerge the cauliflower until they brighten in color and are cooked just enough so they are no longer raw. Transfer to the ice bath to arrest the cooking, then drain and place on a towel to garner any leftover moisture.
Toss the onion whites with the lettuce and drizzle with a small amount of dressing, tossing to coat. Divide amongst 4 plates.
Divide the tuna into four portions and break up with a fork or your fingers and place in the center of the lettuce. Arrange the rest of the vegetables around the tuna: Place ¼ of the tomatoes in the upper left, with the peppers in lower right, potatoes lower left, cauliflower upper right, Romano beans at center left, olives center right. Balance the colors on the plate for nice visuals.
Drizzle dressing generously over the salads, scatter salt over the salad and then pepper. Scatter with almonds, then a light sprinkling of scallion greens.
Serve right away with grilled or toasted bread.
Chef’s Notes;
*Marcona almonds are a Spanish almond that is a bit broader, and is usually fried for a noticeably sweeter, more “almondy” flavor, with more snap to it. They are fried in olive oil, sometimes seasoned with sage or rosemary. They are addictive, but alas, more expensive. Look for them at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and other health food store, gourmet groceries, and Costco, among other places.
**Oil packed tuna in exactly that-tuna canned in oil, and more. It is usually chunk or whole tuna pieces. If you can find some, try a brand from Spain or Italy. If you want a treat, tuna ventresca is from the belly of the fish and is tender and richer. It does come with a higher price tag, be warned. If you don’t have Mediterranean tuna handy, anything else can do.
***For this recipe, if you are going jarred peppers, piquillo are the first choice. If you don’t have, no matter. If you wish to grill your own, go for it! Fresh is always welcome.
Serves: 4
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
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